McMaster Children’s Hospital is a safe place to seek care, but things are a little different

When our children are sick or injured, seeking care for them can be scary, confusing and daunting. Seeking medical attention for them while a global pandemic rages can be downright terrifying.

When our children are sick or injured, seeking care for them can be scary, confusing and daunting. Seeking medical attention for them while a global pandemic rages can be downright terrifying.

McMaster Children’s Hospital, though, wants the community they serve to know that they are a safe and welcoming space for families of children in need of care.

Over the past few months, while the world seemed to come to a grinding halt, hospitals everywhere braced for the onslaught of COVID-19 patients.

“We are fortunate in our region that our community has taken [COVID-19] seriously,” said Dr. Angelo Mikrogianakis, the chief of pediatrics at McMaster Children’s Hospital (MCH).

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“The worst-case scenario didn’t materialize like we saw in other places.”

As Hamilton progresses through Phase 2 of reopening, local hospitals, including MCH, are making the slow transition to ‘normal.’

“We are getting back to serving our community,” Mikrogianakis told InTheHammer. “It’s going to look a little different but we’re doing everything we can to keep everyone safe.”

The hospital has started relaxing some visitor restrictions, though strict screening protocols are in place and physical distancing is required in all waiting areas.

“We understand that family and loved ones are important to our patients’ wellbeing,” Mikrogianakis said, adding that patients and families should be checking with their health-care team as to how best to move forward in accessing care.

During the past few months, Mikrogianakis says that MCH did not treat a large number of young patients for COVID-19 and the number of children brought to the hospital with seasonal ailments and injuries was down too.

“With kids being at home, it protected them from COVID and other viruses,” he said. “With social measures limiting sports [and other activities], we weren’t seeing injuries associated with those.”

With the return to a more traditional pace of life, Mikrogianakis says he expects to see the hospital getting busier.

“We’re starting to approach back to normal and we want people to know that this is a safe place if you need us,” he said.

For one Hamilton family, MCH has always been a safe and supportive space, even in the midst of a pandemic.
Karolina Anastasopoulos’s six-year-old son was diagnosed with leukemia when he was three years old. Since then, the Anastasopoulos family has been in and out of MCH on a regular basis and his treatment continued through the last couple of months.

“I was definitely nervous going to Mac at first,” Anastasopoulos said. “When we first got there though, in terms of the processes they had in place, I knew it was going to be OK.”

She said one of the biggest differences, particularly when accessing care at a clinic, was that there were no people in the waiting rooms.

“The waiting room used to be filled with children, with parents and siblings and sometimes grandparents,” she said, noting that toys were no longer out in the open anymore either.

“But I think the hardest part [for my son] was not being able to hug his friends anymore.”

For all the changes in place, however, Anastasopoulos said she felt accessing care was much more manageable under the new restrictions.

“Pre-COVID, you could be there all day and now everything was by appointment,” she explained. “In a lot of ways, this has been beneficial to a family like ours; the way we’re all living now is how we’ve been living the last three years.”

Even ambulatory care, which the Anastasopoulos family had to access a couple of times over the lockdown, was, in some ways, easier to navigate.

“You’re not sure what you might come into contact with [in an ER],” she said. “But there was, again, no one in the waiting room. They try their best to make sure patients are triaged quickly, and it worked.

“They’ve done a really good job at making us feel safe there. I felt safe bringing my immunocompromised child there numerous times,” Anastasopoulos added. “We’ve been so grateful for the care we’ve received at Mac.”

With doctors and caregivers increasingly relying on technology to deliver some elements of care, there will also be less traffic in and out of hospitals on a daily basis.

“Virtual care is going to be a way of the future,” Mikrogianakis said. “In most cases, patients will still need to be seen in person but now [virtual care] will be a significant percentage of what we do going forward.”

For now, with restrictions lifting and life returning to the community, the need to seek out medical care will likely be on the rise once again and Hamiltonians should know that those facilities we’ve relied on in the past, are still there to help.

“If a child falls and needs stitches…or falls ill, a doctor needs to see them,” Mikrogianakis said. “[MCH] is safe and accessible for those patients and their families who need us.”

Should you be concerned your child has contracted COVID-19, parents are urged to reach out to their primary care provider or public health to find out the safest way to be tested and to minimize exposure.

Mikrogianakis says, though, that if a child is experiencing significant symptoms, they should seek immediate care.

“Precautions are being taken at the door,” he said. “[Staff] will get you where you need to go and will minimize contact with others.”

For more information on McMaster Children’s Hospital and Hamilton Health Sciences, visit their websites.

— Photo courtesy McMaster Children’s Hospital Facebook page